My First Week in Ecuador!

Hola friends and family!!
Greetings from the land where a dozen roses cost two dollars, and toilet paper is thrown away, not flushed. :) I flew into Quito, Ecuador one week ago, and was welcomed at the airport by several of Youth World's staff members, the wonderful people who are my leaders for the next three months. I can scarcely believe it's been a full week since I arrived here and saw their faces for the first time. The time has gone by so quickly I haven't even had a chance to catch my breath since stepping off the plane and onto the 10,000 ft. high ground of Ecuador's capital.

I am so excited to share with you all about my first week here! I know many of you have been waiting anxiously to hear from me, so thank you for being patient! I wish I could include every detail of my experience in this blog, but that would mean no sleep for me, so I'll have to keep it simplified. ;)

From day one, after stepping off the plane, my director drove me to my team's apartment (which has an incredible view of the city!), and I met the other girls in my program. They are all wonderful and very sweet! :) Day two (Monday), in the morning I met the boys (also very nice), and we began orientation. We learned a lot about International Teams and Youth World, including who they are, what they do, and their impact in this country. We went over safety, and all that jazz as well. We were introduced to Quito itself, which was awesome. Phil, Matt, Marlow, and Bryan are the people in charge of our group, so they showed us around the city (You will hear a lot more about them in the future, and I'll be mentioning them a lot! They are amazing leaders.) We went to many different spots, taking trollies, cabs and walking a lot, and learned about the history and makeup of the city. While our legs and lungs burned walking the hills, we got to know each other a little bit more as well.

Day three (Tuesday), we continued on from Monday, sharing our life stories with one another, bonding as a group, and learning more about the city (this time the area closest to where we're living). We visited key places that are important to Youth World and places that will be important to us in the next three months. We ended our day at Matt and Marlow's house (they're married and have two kids). We ate dinner and had a devotional time, which was wonderful. Tuesday night, just like Monday night, I feel into bed around 12:30, exhausted from the whirlwind day.

Wednesday, we were sent on a scavenger hunt throughout the whole city as a group, to see if we had been paying attention to what our leaders had been sharing with us the previous days. Equipped with maps and cell phones, we spent the entire day walking around the city. When we finished, we went to Matt and Marlow's house once again and had a time of worship. (We will have a Bible study/worship time at their house every Wednesday.) Wednesday morning I had woken up not feeling the best. Throughout the day I increasingly felt worse, which was a bummer. By the evening I knew I was sick, but still tried to participate in everything.

Thursday was our first day of Spanish class! (It starts at 8:30, so I will be waking up at 6:30 on weekdays.) We took placement tests, and then jumped right in to learning. My teacher spoke Spanish the whole time! Talk about immersion! She is super nice and motions a lot and makes sure I understand the gist of what she's saying before going on. I was surprised at how much I was able to understand and how much I learned. I definitely had a blast. :) I was still sick though, and that made it hard to sit for three hours with major stomach pain. We had our first free time Thursday afternoon, so I took a much needed nap! After waking up and still feeling bad, I emailed my mom and let her know I was sick. She emailed many of you and passed on the word. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me!!

Friday was my birthday! I woke up that morning and felt great!! It was such an incredible blessing to get online in the afternoon and find emails from so many people telling me they were praying for my health and wishing me a great birthday. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. It made me feel so loved, and I was so thankful to not be sick anymore! :) In the morning we had Spanish class, and in the afternoon we went to the market. It was super fun! Bryan planned a surprise evening to celebrate, which ended up being dinner at a Crepe and Waffle place. Deliciousness! We even got dressed up for it. After dinner we played Silent Football and the girls surprised me with a birthday cake they had made! It even had candles on it and they sang happy birthday. Everyone is so sweet here and they made my day super special.

This weekend we were able to pack in a bunch of fun before our workload gets too crazy and we have no free time. Saturday (yesterday), we drove partially down the mountain (crossing into the Northern Hemisphere) and went to a zip line through the “cloud forest.” Then on our way back to Quito we stopped at a tiny butterfly farm and saw different species of butterflies. Both of those events were incredible, and I feel so blessed that I got to experience them!! :)

Today (Sunday) we all went to a Spanish-only church. It was great, but I could barely understand the service. Can't wait till I can understand more! ;) After church we went to the middle of the world – the equator! Well, not really, since they mis-marked it by a few hundred meters, but it was still cool. We straddled the line and took pictures. Marlow said we'll make it to the real equator sometime before we leave. It doesn't matter much to me since I've already crossed it. ;)

If you're still reading this, I'm so impressed! I just realized I didn't do a good job of simplifying. ;) Sorry about that! We did an incredible amount of stuff this last week and the group of us bonded like crazy. Though I feel like I just left the States, I feel like I've known my new friends and this city for years. Thank you to all once again for being excited for me, for the birthday wishes, and especially for your prayers. I don't know what made me sick this past week, but I don't plan on getting sick again! This coming week I continue Spanish, and more classes start. It should be just as busy, but much more routine. I love you all and look forward to keeping you updated on here!

With Joy,
Jenni